2005 Ohio 2436 | Ohio Ct. App. | 2005
{¶ 2} Plaintiff-appellee, K.Z. Roo, initiated this action with a complaint under R.C.
{¶ 3} The matter was referred to a magistrate for a bench trial, and the magistrate thereafter rendered a decision recommending that appellant and his wife be declared vexatious litigators with respect to future filings against appellee. Appellant filed objections to the magistrate's decision, but did not include a transcript of the evidentiary hearing. The trial court noted that, in the absence of a transcript, objections to the findings of fact rendered by the magistrate would be unsupported, but that in any event the trial court found the findings of fact to be accurate. The trial court then went on to overrule objections to the magistrate's conclusions of law, finding that appellant's numerous filings in his most recent litigation were habitual, persistent, and without reasonable grounds, and that the continual filings were not warranted under existing law and not supported by a good-faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. The trial court accordingly found in favor of appellee and declared appellant to be a vexatious litigator, who would be prohibited from instituting or maintaining any legal proceedings against appellee in the court of claims, any court of common pleas or any municipal court without first seeking leave of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Because appellant is a licensed attorney and the conduct complained of has been limited to specific litigation arising out of a single real estate transaction, the court limited the restriction to pro se actions by appellant against appellee.
{¶ 4} Appellant has timely appealed and brings the following four assignments of error:
1. Appellee's action was filed too late and is barred by R.C.
2. Appellee's action is barred by res judicata because Appellee has previously filed a motion for sanction and obtained his remedy based on Appellant's filing of the 1998 action, which is a basis of Appellee's current action. And the Trial Court erred, acted with bias and prejudice and abused its discretion in proclaiming Appellant to be a vexatious litigator in violation of the res judicata law.
3. Trial Court erred and abused its discretion in proclaiming Appellant to be a vexatious litigator under R.C.
4. Trial Court erred and abused its discretion in prematurely and wrongly dismissing Appellant's motion for sanctions.
{¶ 5} This action was initiated by appellee under Ohio's vexatious litigator statute, R.C.
(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Conduct" has the same meaning as in section
(2) "Vexatious conduct" means conduct of a party in a civil action that satisfies any of the following:
(a) The conduct obviously serves merely to harass or maliciously injure another party to the civil action.
(b) The conduct is not warranted under existing law and cannot be supported by a good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law.
(c) The conduct is imposed solely for delay.
(3) "Vexatious litigator" means any person who has habitually, persistently, and without reasonable grounds engaged in vexatious conduct in a civil action or actions, whether in the court of claims or in a court of appeals, court of common pleas, municipal court, or county court, whether the person or another person instituted the civil action or actions, and whether the vexatious conduct was against the same party or against different parties in the civil action or actions. "Vexatious litigator" does not include a person who is authorized to practice law in the courts of this state under the Ohio Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio unless that person is representing or has represented self pro se in the civil action or actions.
(B) A person, the office of the attorney general, or a prosecuting attorney, city director of law, village solicitor, or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation who has defended against habitual and persistent vexatious conduct in the court of claims or in a court of appeals, court of common pleas, municipal court, or county court may commence a civil action in a court of common pleas with jurisdiction over the person who allegedly engaged in the habitual and persistent vexatious conduct to have that person declared a vexatious litigator. The person, office of the attorney general, prosecuting attorney, city director of law, village solicitor, or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation may commence this civil action while the civil action or actions in which the habitual and persistent vexatious conduct occurred are still pending or within one year after the termination of the civil action or actions in which the habitual and persistent vexatious conduct occurred.
(C) A civil action to have a person declared a vexatious litigator shall proceed as any other civil action, and the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure apply to the action.
{¶ 6} "`The purpose of the vexatious litigator statute is clear. It seeks to prevent abuse of the system by those persons who persistently and habitually file lawsuits without reasonable grounds and/or otherwise engage in frivolous conduct in the trial courts of this state. Such conduct clogs the court dockets, results in increased costs, and oftentimes is a waste of judicial resources — resources that are supported by the taxpayers of this state. The unreasonable burden placed upon courts by such baseless litigation prevents the speedy consideration of proper litigation.'" Mayer v. Bristow (2000),
{¶ 7} The extensive procedural history of the present matter has been examined at length by this court in prior appeals; nonetheless, this history forms the essence of the present case and we must again restate it in some detail. The underlying controversy arises out of a land installment contract, under which appellant and his wife undertook to sell a property to Earl and Willa Kingcannon. The Kingcannons defaulted on their obligations, but assigned the contract to Lotus Properties, who subsequently leased the property to appellee. Appellant and his wife then filed in 1984 a forcible entry and detainer complaint against appellee in the Franklin County Municipal Court seeking possession of the premises and unpaid rent. Appellee filed counterclaims and a third-party complaint against Lotus Properties. Appellant and his wife were eventually awarded a de minimus monetary judgment against Lotus Properties, and the matter was dismissed with prejudice as to all other claims and all other parties. No appeal was taken from that judgment.
{¶ 8} After a lapse of over ten years, appellant and his wife brought a new complaint in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, filed on December 14, 1998, seeking unpaid rent and other damages from appellee arising out of the same transaction underlying the 1984 case. On November 24, 1999, the trial court granted appellee's motion for summary judgment on the basis that appellant's claims were barred by res judicata as they had been fully adjudicated in the 1984 action. We affirmed that decision by the trial court upon appeal. Sain v. Roo (Nov. 28, 2000), Franklin App. No. 99AP-1459 (Memorandum Decision). We subsequently denied a motion for reconsideration in that appeal. Sain v. Roo (Jan. 25, 2001), Franklin App. No. 99AP-1459 (Memorandum Decision). Appellant then took an appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio, which declined jurisdiction in the matter,Sain v. Roo (2001),
{¶ 9} In post-judgment proceedings upon the 1998 complaint, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted appellee's motion for sanctions and awarded attorney's fees. Appellant took a further appeal to this court from that decision, and this court affirmed the award of sanctions under R.C.
{¶ 10} Appellant and his wife then filed a motion for relief from judgment in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas pursuant to Civ.R. 60(B)(5), seeking relief from the trial court's decision in the 1998 complaint. The trial court denied relief from judgment, and this court affirmed. Sain v. Roo, Franklin App. No. 02AP-448, 2003-Ohio-626. The Supreme Court of Ohio again denied appellant's jurisdictional motion,Sain v. Roo,
{¶ 11} Apparently concerned about the possibility of subsequent motions for relief from judgment or renewed prosecution of the action through a new complaint, appellee then filed the present action to have appellant declared a vexatious litigator.
{¶ 12} Appellant's first assignment of error on appeal asserts that appellee's action was time-barred under the statute of limitations set forth in R.C.
{¶ 13} R.C.
{¶ 14} Appellant's second assignment of error asserts that the vexatious litigator action was barred by previous motions for sanctions, which were granted, brought in connection with the 1998 action. Appellant essentially argues that the vexatious litigator statute, R.C.
{¶ 15} R.C.
{¶ 16} Appellant's third assignment of error essentially asserts that the vexatious litigator finding by the trial court is against the manifest weight of the evidence. Appellant literally asserts that he has "no history" of vexatious conduct. (Appellant's brief, at 2.) This court has already examined the course of appellant's conduct in this litigation and concluded that it pushed the bounds of justifiable advocacy:
This court has carefully reviewed the allegations in appellants' latest motions and briefs, and finds that appellants have not presented any new evidence or arguments that would support relief under Civ.R. 60(B)(5). Appellants simply rehash arguments that were made and rejected in Sain I and Sain II which, inter alia, affirmed the judgments of the trial court on the basis of res judicata. The purpose of res judicata is to deter the repeated litigation of resolved issues, thereby ensuring finality in judgments and the conservation of judicial resources.
In spite of appellants' persistent belief that the trial court and this court have reached the wrong conclusions, there comes a time in the course of litigation when a non-prevailing party must realize that further efforts are not only futile but also frivolous and harassing. Appellants' arguments are not welltaken, and the assignments of error are overruled. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Sain v. Roo, Franklin App. No. 02AP-448, 2003-Ohio-626, at ¶ 12 and 13. (Citation omitted.)
{¶ 17} The trial court and the Supreme Court of Ohio have each on multiple occasions sanctioned appellant for unwarranted and frivolous filings. The weight of the evidence in the form of the procedural history and substance of this case simply supports the trial court's conclusion that some restraint is appropriate upon appellant's conduct of this litigation and that application of the vexatious litigator statute is warranted.
{¶ 18} Appellant further asserts that the vexatious litigator finding in the present case is improper because it is admittedly based upon the conduct of litigation in a single, albeit protracted, case arising out of the 1998 complaint. Appellant views application of the vexatious litigator statute as necessarily premised upon multiple frivolous case filings. The clear language of R.C.
{¶ 19} The trial court's finding that appellant has engaged in habitually persistent vexatious conduct is supported by the record in this case. Appellant's third assignment of error is accordingly overruled.
{¶ 20} Appellant's fourth assignment of error asserts that the trial court erred in denying his own motion for sanctions brought early in his defense of the vexatious litigator complaint. The outcome of the action, without further discussion being necessary, supports the trial court's denial of appellant's motion for sanctions. Appellant's fourth assignment of error is accordingly overruled.
{¶ 21} In summary, appellant's four assignments of error are overruled, and the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas adjudicating appellant to be a vexatious litigator is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Bryant and Lazarus, JJ., concur.
